The present invention relates to beverage containers of the type generally used by consumers for drinking, and more particularly to an improved multi-purpose beverage container device having separate accessible compartments formed above and below a main cup chamber to permit storage of articles and their access without disturbing the beverage contained within the cup chamber and interfering with its consumption.
Beverages sold to consumers at sporting and entertainment events as well as at amusement parks and other public gatherings are typically provided and served in standard cups of various sizes with lids that are formed to cover the top of the cup while providing some access to the beverage within for its for consumption. In many cases, the consumers at these events and gatherings are engaged in different activities and transactions, receiving coins and other forms of currency, as well as being involved in collecting small souvenirs and other articles associated with the event or gathering. Many, if not all, of these items received in hand need to be temporarily stored and retained in some way during the course of the event and for sometime thereafter. It would therefore be desirable for consumers and venders as well at these public events to have the beverages sold and served for consumption in a drinking container having one or more compartments formed together therewith so that any important items or articles collected by the consumer can be easily retained and stored within the container without disturbing the beverage contents and the normal consumption thereof.
There have been various types and forms of beverage containers that have been devised and developed with additional functional capabilities beyond that of liquid containment. Several of these multi-functional beverage containers found in the prior art have been designed having one or more receptacles, cavities or other receiving chambers formed within their structure in addition to the primary liquid-holding chamber to receive, carry and/or store one or more items of a personal nature often found in the possession of the consumer, such as a cigarette lighter, a comb, a pager or a cellular phone. Examples of such prior art beverage containers found to provide additional storage chambers for personal items include U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,028 to Wittig et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,353 to Ward et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,647 to Yeh et al.; and U.S. Pat. Nos. D514,896 and D516,393 both to Wickenhauser. While these and other prior art devices and designs for multi-functional beverage containers have been satisfactory in storing various personal items in their separate chambers, none have been found particularly effective in both receiving and carrying both with ease and convenience the many coins and like forms of souvenir items that are often gathered by consumers while they attend public events and consume their beverage of choice. Furthermore, none of the devices or designs for multi-chambered beverage containers found in the prior art allow for both the storage of and easy access to towel-like articles commonly referred to by sports fans as “rally towels” that are deployed and waved by fans while cheering during the course of a sporting event.